Sarah Ann Kelsey Boothman1839-1923

A Moment in Time

Sarah’s husband John died in 1876, at age 41. In the Randolph 1880 census, Sarah is listed as living at home (Mountain View House), age 40, but at some point economics forced Sarah to leave her foursmall children in the care of her parents and work in a ribbon mill in Manchester, New Hampshire about 100 miles away.

She rarely made the journey home to be with her children and became very bitter towards men, blaming her husband for dying and leaving her with four children to bring up. She was so bitter that she made her three daughters promise never to marry.

This story always stuck with me and was the inspiration for the Sarah Ann figure. She is featured with her traveling coat and hat carrying her carpet bag for her long train trip back to Manchester.

There will be more stories and figures to come regarding the “Aunts” and their family.